COSTA MESA, Calif. – The Corban University baseball team launched its 2021 season on Friday, taking on No. 18-ranked Vanguard University. Despite mounting an impressive comeback in the opener, the Warriors fell in game one by a tally of 10-7, while a strong Lion pitching performance led to a 5-1 Vanguard victory in game two.

"Playing baseball on opening day in the sun is always an awesome experience," said head coach Derek Legg. "I'm proud of the battle we showed in the first game. We've got some things to build on and some areas of potential growth, but this is a different team."

The Warriors showed grit in the first game of the day, as the Navy and Gold erased a daunting early deficit to make the season opener a tightly contested ballgame.

The hometown Lions jumped out to an early start, scoring six runs—including four in the second—in the game's first two frames to grab a commanding advantage.

Corban fought back, however, plating a trio of runs on a two-out, bases-clearing double from Morgan Hostetler in the top of the fourth. With one swing of the bat, the junior from Bozeman, Mont. cut the deficit in half.

An Aki Buckson solo shot helped the Lions grab one back in the bottom half of the inning, but the Navy and Gold rattled off a second-consecutive three-run stanza to pull within one. Maxwell Jeffrey and Kyle Clay each collected RBI singles in the rally, with Estenio Sede also scoring on a double steal.

Clay would finish the season opener with an impressive stat line, going 3-for-5 and scoring a run.

The Warriors would finally claw all the way back in the following frame, as a Keenan O'Brien single would eventually lead to a throwing error by Vanguard first baseman Joe Johnson that would bring home Hostetler.

The 7-7 deadlock wouldn't last long, however, as Travis Aversa launched a booming solo blast to right field to help Vanguard regain the lead in the sixth. The Lions would end up adding a couple of insurance runs in the following innings, holding on for the 10-7 win in game one.

Game two followed a similar pattern, as the Lions quickly scored five times in the first three frames. Corban got on the board in the fifth, when Hostetler continued his hot start to the 2021 season by blasting an opposite field solo shot over the left-center wall.

That would be the only scoring of the game for the Navy and Gold, however, as Vanguard hurlers Michael Kashou (W, 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 8 K), Brandon Steele (1 IP, 0 ER), and Toby Welty (1 IP, 0 ER) combined to surrender just two hits in the seven-inning contest.

Aside from Hostetler, Reese Fawley (1-for-3) was the only other member of the Corban roster to collect a hit in the game-two defeat.

The Warriors (0-2) will have a chance to bounce back tomorrow, finishing out their four-game set with another doubleheader matchup against the Lions, slated to begin at 11 a.m.